Abu Samah pointed to the performance of the Uzbekistan and Doha teams in the Governor Cup's Cycling Championship of Melaka and the Tour of Negeri Sembilan this year as an indication of their value.

"These two teams have the capability to compete and challenge other Asian riders or even the ProTour's riders. ... We hope that their participation this time around will entice and attract more cycling enthusiasts locally and abroad to follow the tour," he said.

Team Doha is expected to line up its best riders, such as Abdelbaset Hannachi, Omar Hasanin, Khaleel Abduljanan and Afif Abdullah. Uzbekistan will likely bring Sergey Lagutin, Shaekhov Vadim, Mukhamedov Temur, Turaev Azamat, Malakhov Yaroslav and Karimov Ruslan.

The Tour de Langkawi will consist of 20 teams of six riders. Abu Samah explained that nine teams will be selected from the ProTour and Professional Continental circuits.

The 2009 is organised by Kementerian Belia dan Sukan (KBS) along with Malaysia National Cycling Federation. The seven-stage race parcours will be announced soon.